Christmas 2008

It's hard to believe that Christmas holiday has already come and gone. Steven and I had a wonderful few days with our families. We stayed with my mom and dad in Farm Life accompanied by my brother and Nana. Christmas in the Griffin household was very calm and not rushed. We ate good food, spent quality time together and of course, opened some fun presents. We got our first gifts for the babies - my mom bought them each an ornament; the girl a barbie ballerina and the boy a onesie on a hanger with a superman S on it. I LOVE superman, so I absolutely loved the "Superbaby Ornament!" We also got some precious clothes and bibs (all talking about grandma and grandaddy).

We were also blessed with time at Steven's maternal grandmother's home with all of his aunts and uncles - we always have a blast at Grandma Penny's; we have fun traditions of games and gag gifts which always leave us laughing. Christmas day was spent with my folks, then onto Steven's mom and dads to open presents with his immediate family. Steven's folks gave the babies the most adorable toys (see pictures below) - for the girl an adorable pink and white toy stroller and for the boy a radio flyer wagon that he can push both filled with goodies. All of these baby gifts made things so real for us - just think, next year at this time we'll have two 8 month olds! The Manning Christmas was followed by Christmas at Grandma Dot's (Steven's paternal grandmother). We are so thankful to be surrounded by such amazing family that we love to spend time with!

One of the highlights of the holidays was announcing our baby names. Steven had wanted to wait and announce the names at Christmas so as to surprise his family which is where we got the kids' middle names. Our baby girl's name is Meredith Ann Manning (after my sister, Meredith and Steven's paternal grandmother, Dorothy Ann). Our baby boy's name is Berkley Roger Manning (after my father, Joe Berkley and Steven's father, Roger). Now I just have to quit calling them baby girl and baby boy and actually use their names.

Another highlight of the break was talking with my dad, which may not sound that fascinating, but it's truly a big deal. My dad's dementia is so severe that he VERY RARELY uses one word let alone has any intelligible response to questions. One night over the break I saw a little something in my dad's eyes (I saw him) and began to ask him simple questions. I wasn't expecting any response and he quickly responded with one word answers. He probably answered about 10 questions for me, the greatest of which was what I was having in which he responded "a baby!" It was great to hear that my dad understands that I'm pregnant and that our keeping him involved in our lives is a valuable thing. What precious moments times like this are for me and I hope I never forget them:)